Alone: Leadership And the Cuban Missile Crisis

by John Childs

In the leadership lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis, we explore how John F. Kennedy led the country through one of its most intense toe-to-toe confrontations. What was the decision making process? What was his negotiating process? How did he set goals and objectives? How did he reign in hawkish generals? All of these issues will be explored in this short but intense coverage of the presidency's greatest the threat of nuclear war. Kennedy displayed amazing grace under pressure unlike any president we have seen in modern history. It is this grace and ability to act in extreme circumstances successfully that we discuss in Alone. The basis of Alone is that leadership is a lonesome business and one that should not be undertaken lightly. The responsibility of decisions lies on the shoulders of leaders and the consequences of those decisions are in the leader's hands.

66 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2012

About the author

John Charles Roger Childs FRHS is Emeritus Professor of Military History at the University of Leeds.